


You Show Me Yours

by endingthemes



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Charles You Will Be Drunk, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, M/M, Nude Photos, Romantic Comedy, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-30 07:24:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3927994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endingthemes/pseuds/endingthemes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Erik receives nudes in the middle of the night from an unknown number, he's confused and mildly amused. He doesn't expect it to turn into an actual conversation...with <i>feelings</i>.</p><p>As if that's not baffling enough, his friend's brother ends up crashing at his place, further complicating everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself my next fic was going to be a serious plotty piece. Instead, I started to write another rom-com. What can I say? *hangs head in shame*
> 
> Big thanks to [cachinnation](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cachinnation/pseuds/cachinnation) and [thenewgothicromance](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewgothicromance) for the beta <3

Erik groaned, his eyes cracking open to meet nothing but darkness and the green glow of his bedside clock. It took another moment of confused, sleepy blinking before he realized his phone was buzzing and that was what had awoken him. He fumbled for it, his fingertips barely managing to brush it. He sighed, deciding to give up rather than move to reach it when it vibrated again, the sound loud in the quiet dead of night. Cursing under his breath, he propped himself up on his elbow and snatched the phone from the bedside table to see that he had not only missed text messages, but also missed photos. He frowned down at the unfamiliar number sending him something at 3:14 AM and unlocked the phone.

He nearly dropped it when the first thing he was greeted with was a picture of very red lips with a tongue swiping across them seductively. What kind of fucking joke was this? But then he scrolled and another picture was revealed, this time of a very hard cock hidden only by a thin layer of gray boxer brief, and damn, that certainly got his attention.

 **mising this yet?** read the text below it, and Erik racked his brain trying to figure out just whose cock he should be missing.

The next message popped up just then. **Im hard but its not for you.**

Atrocious spelling and grammar was such a turn off, and Erik was about to type just that in a reply when another picture arrived and he froze.

It was an ass, no boxer briefs in the way to hide it, and it was in Erik’s esteemed estimation, one of the top three best asses he’d seen in his lifetime.

 **kiss MY ARSE** , came the next text.

Erik, now quite awake, hesitated, his finger poised to type but not yet in motion. Were more nudes coming? And if they were… well, he’d rather like to see them.

He waited, breath coming slightly faster than it should be for someone reclining in bed, but nothing more came. He scrolled back up to look at the lips again -- he’d wrongly assumed they were a woman’s lips the first time, and now he was out to more thoroughly enjoy them. The phone didn’t vibrate again, even as he moved on to perusing the dick pic, which showed well muscled thighs as well. Then one more time, he studied the ass. There was this little birthmark on it, near the top of the right cheek, almost in the shape of a heart, and it was begging to be kissed. He was about to zoom in when he realized just what he was doing.

Deciding finally to spare this poor man from humiliating himself further, Erik quickly typed out a response.

**Wrong number.**

**!!!!!!!?1!!?!?!!!**

**But thanks.**

**????????**

The next morning, in the light of day, the previous night’s incident was even more amusing. Erik perused the lips, dick, and ass as he stood in the kitchen eating toast. He knew propriety dictated that he delete the pictures, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it yet. Besides, there was no face visible and no way to tell who it was. No harm, no foul.

Erik stuck his phone in his bag and headed to work and didn’t think a bit about Dick Pic Man until he checked his phone again at lunch time and spotted a text from the unknown number.

**I’m extremely sorry about last night. I had a bit too much to drink, and may have texted some things I should not have texted to someone I don’t even know. I apologize for the rudeness.**

Erik was about to respond when another message came.

**Unless you’re a minor? Oh my god, please tell me you’re not a minor.**

**No. I’m in my 20s. You’re safe** , he typed back.

**Oh thank god. But I’m still sorry. Won’t happen again.**

Erik started to put his phone away, but something stayed his hand. Boredom, curiosity, pity. He wasn’t sure.

**Texting an ex?**

**Trying to anyway. Got drunk and wanted to give him a bit of ‘this is what you’re missing.’**

**You have a talent for flattering shots.**

**I know.**

Erik snorted, but before he could finish his response, another text came.

**What I meant was, I took about 50 pictures and only sent the very best ones.**

**Nicely chosen.** He hesitated for moment, but then added, **If you ever need a test audience, I’m here for you.**

**A nude quality checker?**

**Something like that.**

**Are you flirting with me?**

The text gave Erik pause. **Should I not be?** he typed out.

**Great for my ego. Keep going please.**

Erik might have spent most of the afternoon continuing to text sporadically with his new dick pic friend, even snickering in a meeting when an especially amusing response came. All eyes swiveled to him and noticing their attention, Erik turned his most fierce glare on them. They quickly averted their gaze.

**

Erik arrived home that night to find Raven on his couch, and he let out a sigh.

“Fighting again?” he asked, heading past her into the kitchen where he dropped his laptop bag into a chair at the table.

“He’s such an asshole!” Raven followed him into the kitchen, heading for the fridge and yanking it open with too much zeal. “What are you making for dinner?”

Erik rolled his eyes. “Only enough for one, so feel free to enjoy watching me eat it.”

She turned narrowed eyes on Erik. “Only you would be total dick to me in my time of need.”

Erik nudged her out of the way and pulled out some chicken breasts. “Considering this happens two to three times a month -- yes, I would be.”

“I love chicken,” she said as she settled at the table, watching as he prepared it for baking. Erik waited for the rest of her rant to come, but she stayed quiet for a few long moments.

Finally, he turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

“What?” she asked.

Erik sighed, deciding to go the simple route, and poured BBQ sauce over the chicken before sticking it in the oven. “I’m waiting for the latest tale of woe featuring Azazel being an unfeeling heathen. Don’t let me down.”

The dam broke. “So my brother is moving into town, and he doesn’t have a place to stay yet because frankly, apartment shopping online is really hard, so I told him he could stay with us for a few days while he looked around.” Erik nodded, cutting peppers with only half of his attention, the knife obeying his whims so easily that he barely needed to look. “Right, so it might have slipped my mind, and I might have forgotten to mention this to Azazel and my brother is coming tonight and now he doesn’t have anywhere to stay because Azazel said no! Isn’t that fucking stupid?”

“You’re both fucking stupid,” Erik replied easily, drizzling cauliflower and broccoli with olive oil.

“Fuck you, Erik. I’m not making my brother stay in a hotel!”

“Why not? Your family can afford it.”

Raven let out a huff, but her shoulders deflated. “He recently broke up with a long time boyfriend, okay? He’s not doing so well. He’s a telepath, so emotional bonds like that are really tough for him to lose, more than the average person anyway.”

Erik, who had been summoning a frying pan across the kitchen, let it drop gently to the stove before turning to face Raven. “So you want to take care of him. That’s… rather sisterly of you.”

“I’m a good sister! And Charles doesn’t do well when he’s alone. But Azazel says our place is too small, and Charles can’t stay, and now that we’ve fought you know he’s going to keep saying no just because he doesn’t want to admit defeat.”

“You’re both like that,” Erik said. “I don’t even know how you two function as a couple.”

“There’s nothing wrong with some healthy fighting,” Raven objected, leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table. “Which gets me to my main point…”

Erik stilled where he was sauteing the vegetables. “No.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

The doorbell rang.

Erik froze, his jaw clenching. “Raven…” he began, but she’d already hopped up from the table and was running to the living room. Erik pushed the pan onto a cool burner and followed her, only to find her at the door, hugging a man who had a rolling suitcase next to him.

She pulled back, but Erik could barely see the man, Raven and him almost of a height, and her hair thoroughly blocking him. They were exchanging murmured greetings and pleasantries, the sort of intimate scene that only two people who were very familiar with each other could paint.

Erik crossed his arms and waited, tapping his foot for emphasis. Raven finally drew back, revealing her brother and Erik’s arms dropped to his sides.

He looked nothing like Raven, which made sense, considering he wasn’t blue or scaled, but Erik hadn’t been expecting this compact, fluffy haired, blue-eyed piece of perfection.

“Hello,” the man greeted with a smile large enough to flash his perfect white teeth, and he moved past Raven, making his way to Erik. “You must be Erik. So good to meet you.” Erik was shaking his hand before he even realized what was happening, the palm warm and dry against his. “I’m Charles.”

“I was just thanking Erik again for being so generous and offering his spare bedroom for a few days,” Raven cut in smoothly, rolling Charles’ suitcase inside and pulling the door closed. “Let me just show you to your room.” She started down the hall to the bedrooms, and Erik watched mutely as Charles followed, taking in the small living room before disappearing around the corner.

Erik’s fist balled and clenched convulsively for a moment, a war raging inside him. Just as he was about to storm after them, Raven appeared again, a rare hint of sheepishness in her hesitant movements. “Please, Erik. _Please_. Just for a few days.”

He turned his vicious glare upon her, but she didn’t even wilt, standing strong before him. Erik opened his mouth to unleash holy hell, but his words died in his throat.

Something about Charles had caught his attention, but he couldn’t figure out what. Maybe just being confronted with someone attractive was enough, but Erik was rarely swayed more than momentarily by a pretty face.

Raven was still watching him carefully.

Erik let a full, predatory smile stretch across his face, the kind that had people often backing away slowly. “He can stay.”

Raven’s head tilted, and her eyes searched his face, obviously wondering at his easy acquiescence. Her eyes widened. “No,” she hissed. “No, you are not fucking my brother!”

Erik turned on his heels, laughing freely as he walked back into the kitchen and Raven pursued him. He had no intention of following through, but damn it felt good to make Raven sweat.

Dinner was strangely uneventful considering Erik was joined by not just one but two unexpected guests. Charles, who had already eaten, joined them at the table, only accepting a beer which he sipped, sighing heavily whenever he thought no one was watching. Erik pretended not to notice.

Raven chattered constantly, so there was no need to worry about awkward silences, and Erik got an entire history lesson in Charles Xavier that he didn’t even request. Charles was a professor, and wasn’t that amazing at such a young age, and he’d be working at the University here now, and wasn’t that Erik’s alma mater?

It wasn’t until Raven finally bid them goodnight and the door closed behind her that Erik realized he was well and truly stuck with Charles for at least a week. Deciding there was no reason to break his normal routine just for someone he didn’t particularly care to impress, he grabbed another beer from the fridge and settled on his couch, slouching heavily as he turned on the TV.

Charles had disappeared to the spare bedroom, and Erik thought he may have turned in for the night, but he re-emerged fairly quickly, holding a bottle of scotch.

“Care to share?” he asked, his smile much more toned down from the exuberant one Erik had seen while Raven was here.

“You’re willing to share your nice scotch with me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Charles’ smile turned sheepish. “I should probably gift the whole bottle to you considering how much trouble Raven puts you through. You know what she says when she doesn’t like my advice? ‘I don’t know why I even asked you when I could just have asked Erik.’” He put a dramatic hand to his heart. “It hurts as a brother to hear that.”

“Believe me,” Erik started, a smile tugging at his own lips. “I would prefer it if she unloaded all her troubles onto you.”

“I’m sure. So drink my expensive alcohol with me, please.”

How could Erik refuse that?

After fetching glasses and ice, they resettled together on the couch, sipping in fairly awkward silence.

“I’m sorry,” Charles said, eyes still on the TV. “I know you didn’t agree to this.”

“How--”

“Telepath,” Charles reminded Erik, turning his blue eyes on him. “Your shock and annoyance at my arrival were hard to miss.”

“Ah,” Erik acknowledged simply. He could feel Charles’ gaze on him, as if Charles was waiting for something more.

“That doesn’t bother you?” Charles finally asked.

“That you know I didn’t want you here?”

“No.” Charles pointed to his forehead. “That I’m a telepath.”

Erik was taking another sip of the scotch -- damn, it was good -- but he lowered the glass immediately. “Why should that bother me? Are you invading my mind and sorting through my deepest, darkest secrets right now?”

Charles recoiled. “Of course not.”

Erik shrugged. “Then I think we’re good.”

Charles’ eyes didn’t stray from Erik’s face, but Erik turned back to the TV, content that the conversation was over.

“Alright,” Charles said slowly. “We’re good.”

**

Erik was settling down to sleep when his phone chimed with a text, and he was strangely glad to see that it was Dick Pic Man, who he’d saved as DPM.

**DPM: How’s your evening going?**

**I had something unexpected come up, but I’m dealing with it. How about you?**

**DPM: Good unexpected? Because I certainly had that. Have you ever met someone that you immediately wanted to climb like a tree?**

**I’m pretty tall, so I’m not sure I’d use that exact phrase but as a gay man with a healthy sexual appetite, yes.**

**DPM: I love tall guys. How do you feel about short ones?**

**How short?**

**DPM: Oh no : /**

**I can tell you how I feel about emoticons. I hate them.**

**DPM: : / : / : / I guess we weren’t meant to be after all**

Erik didn’t mean to laugh. It wasn’t even that funny, but something about Dick Pic Man was adorable. (And there was that ass. Erik couldn’t forget that.)

 **Anymore nudes need checking?** he couldn’t resist asking.

**DPM: You only want me for my body, I see. Too bad it’s a short body!**

**I don’t dislike short guys.** Erik waited, debating whether or not he wanted to share this. **I have had bad experiences with short twinky size queens, ok?**

**DPM: Oh no.. you were too small for them? You mean I’ve been wasting my time on a guy with a small cock?**

**More like they only wanted me for my 9 inches.**

**DPM: HAHA YOU WISH YOU WERE 9 INCHES**

**Not a lie.**

**DPM: Show me**

**No.**

**DPM: A total lie**

Erik gritted his teeth and told himself to stop texting with this idiot. But being called a liar was completely unacceptable. He had his hand in his pants before he fully realized what he was doing, attempting to coax himself to hardness, but annoyance wasn’t a very good aphrodisiac.

The creak of footsteps in the room next door startled him into stillness, and he just blinked up at the ceiling for a moment, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Charles was a telepath. Did he know Erik was in here masturbating?

No, he didn’t seem the type to snoop, or even the type to care really, but now Erik’s cock was even less interested in having a good time.

Deciding giving up was the only option, he pulled his hand from his pants and picked up the phone again.

**I have a houseguest so proof won’t be forthcoming tonight.**

**DPM: I’m staying with a friend tonight so it’s probably for the best. I don’t know if he’d appreciate me coming all over his guest bedroom sheets to pics of your monster cock**

**DPM: Still don’t believe you by the way**

**Good things come to those who wait.**

Erik blinked down at the phone, somewhat disgusted that he’d actually used a line that cheesy. Obviously it was time to sleep.

**

Charles was still asleep when Erik left for work the next morning. In fact, Erik was so preoccupied texting with Dick Pic Man throughout the day that he nearly forgot Charles even existed until he walked into his apartment to be greeted by the smell of Chinese food.

“You’re back.” Charles was on the couch, eating out of a white cardboard container with chopsticks. “I got you some take out. I hope you like fried rice and beef and broccoli.”

Erik dropped down onto the couch next to Charles, causing Charles to bounce a bit and frown at Erik. He grabbed up a container and dug in with relish. “Thanks,” he said through a mouth full of rice.

“Horrible manners,” Charles muttered with more amusement than derision.

They ate in silence as the 6 o’clock news came on, and the headline story was about a teenage mutant who had accidentally unleashed his powers during gym class. Frightened parents were complaining about dangerous mutants and demanding the young boy be held accountable. Erik’s grasp on the cardboard container gradually tightened.

The channel abruptly changed to a sitcom and Erik turned to find Charles with the remote in his hand.

“Looked like that was upsetting you.”

“Of course it was,” Erik nearly spat. “As if that was his fault at all. That kid doesn’t deserve their fear.”

“I know,” Charles said, though there was no passion or anger in his voice, just weariness.

Erik viciously shoved beef into his mouth. “When I manifested, I freaked out and threw a desk across the room.”

“More impressive than me,” Charles said wryly. “I fainted on the spot.”

Erik wondered if this was a sensitive subject, as Charles’ telepathy seemed to be, and unsure of what to say, he chewed slowly on his beef before finally responding, “Not everyone can have powers as awesome as mine.”

Charles snorted good-naturedly, and Erik felt like he’d passed a test.

“Your mutation… it’s with metal?” Charles asked.

Erik summoned the remote from Charles’ hands with a flick of his wrist and Charles’ face lit up with delight.

“Fascinating. I’ve done a lot of research, but I haven’t seen anyone with powers quite like yours. It’s not telekinesis, right?”

Erik found himself leaning slightly away from Charles’ enthusiasm. “No. Magnetic fields. It’s different.”

“You have to let me take a blood sample.” Charles had completely forgotten about his meal and was waving his chopsticks about as he talked. “I’d love to study your genes.”

“You mentioned you were a professor, but I didn’t know you studied mutants. That’s--” Erik searched for the word. Great? Perfect? As it should be because I’m tired of baseline humans telling us who we are and if anyone is doing research and learning about us, it should be one of our own kind? He settled for, “Good.”

Charles was smiling at him again, and there was something intoxicating about being the center of his attention, as if his focus was more keen and deeper than a normal person’s.

“You know, my ex was a baseline human,” Charles said suddenly, apropos of nothing. “He liked that I was a telepath. I guess he thought it was kind of cool? But he liked what it could do for him more than what it said about me.” Then he hastily added, “If that even makes sense.”

Erik shifted, not sure he was the right person to be having this kind of heart to heart with. “I don’t know much about telepaths. You’re pretty rare, you know. But that sounds… unpleasant.”

Charles pointed at Erik with his chopsticks. “You’re definitely the more rare of the two of us. But yes, it was unpleasant.” His lips twisted. “He just expected me to know what he was thinking and solve all of our problems that way. I think at some point, we just stopped talking. Stopped connecting.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s hard though, to let go of a mind you get accustomed to feeling.”

Erik didn’t know what to do with his sudden impulse to try to make Charles smile again.

**

That night, Erik texted Dick Pic Man.

**Are you a mutant?**

**DPM: Um hello to you too. But yes, if you must know. Is this where you stop talking to me?**

**How do you feel about angry, gay, jewish mutants?**

**DPM: Sounds hot**

They stayed up so late texting that Erik fell asleep with the phone in his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the amazing response to my silly little fic! All of your comments made me smile and I've been reading them over and over because they're amazing motivation :D

Erik was beginning to feel strangely social. He spent his days and late nights texting Dick Pic Man (and he really needed to get a name because calling him that was getting a bit absurd) and his evenings hanging out with Charles, who was actually interesting company.

Dick Pic Man was sexy and witty and funny and playful. Erik loved how easy it was to talk to him about anything and everything, their conversations easily jumping between topics, starting with Erik’s work complaints, segueing into their favorite presidential candidate, and somehow ending up at goofy pickup lines. Multiple times, Erik wondered if it would be alright to ask to meet face-to-face, but something held him back.

Charles, on the other hand, was a bit melancholy, quite serious, and extremely intelligent. They spent one night arguing about segregated schooling for mutants, and the next frantically agreeing over the backwardness of the Dangerous Powers Registration Act. For all of Charles’ restraint, he was a vicious opponent and he never gave an inch. Even when Erik was positive that Charles had backed himself into a corner, he found a way to argue himself back out. It should have been annoying, but mostly it just made Erik’s heart pound, made him want to spit a winning line back, made him want to prove to Charles that he was worth each moment of Charles’ time.

When they weren’t debating, they got tipsy, and during one drinking session, Charles told Erik about the student he’d taught who’d claimed that his mutation was the ability to give the perfect blow job every time.

“Did you test that out?” Erik asked with a teasing smile and was rewarded with an outraged, blushing Charles who barked a vehement denial while kicking Erik in the shin with his socked feet.

At some point, the cold, blue tones that had filled the air around Charles had melted away, and Erik had become accustomed to the sight of Charles’ real smile, far less exuberant than the ones he’d been forcing and much more pleasant to look at.

It wasn’t until Erik arrived home on a Friday afternoon to find a note that Charles had gone with Raven to go and look at more apartments that Erik realized that Charles had been staying with him for nearly two weeks.

Finding himself bored after channel surfing for a bit, Erik decided to text Dick Pic Man, hoping for some company, and was disappointed to get no response but **Busy.**

Sighing, he stripped for a shower, but his mind was still on Dick Pic Man and it soon strayed to red lips and a pert ass as it had so often lately.

Erik was immensely thankful for the digital age. If the nudes he’d received had been old fashioned photographs, he would have worn them thin with handling.

Just thinking of his favorite set of nudes had him half hard, and he couldn’t help the wicked grin that spread over his face as he grabbed his cellphone. Let Dick Pic Man reply with busy when confronted with _this._

Trying to achieve the best angle, and embarrassingly failing a few times, Erik finally managed to get something that made him look large and thick and semi-classy. (As classy as dick pics got anyway.) He nodded down at the picture, his hard cock peeking out from his boxer briefs, the length and girth of it apparent even partially hidden. He thought the bonus addition of his hard abs in the frame was a nice touch.

 **Sorry to hear you’re busy** , he typed out below the picture and resisted adding a winking face out of sheer strength of will before sending.

The response was immediate.

**DPM: OH MY GOD**

**DPM: YOU AREN’T A LIAR**

**DPM: YOU REALLY AREN’T**

**DPM: OH MY GOD**

**DPM: Marry me?**

Considering Charles was out, Erik thought it was a great day for singing in the shower.

**

Charles and Raven arrived home a few hours later tired but triumphant and declared that Charles would be out of Erik’s hair by Wednesday.

They sat around Erik’s table and toasted to the news with Erik’s cheap beers since they’d already worked their way through Charles’ multiple bottles of expensive scotch.

“A place near here?” Erik asked, taking on a mocking tone. “Why Mr. Xavier, isn’t this neighborhood a bit… plain for you?”

Charles pursed his lips but didn’t rise to the bait. “It’s close to the university and quiet. Which is all I need.”

“So nice of you to condescend to join us commoners,” Erik continued to needle.

The pink staining Charles’ cheeks was utterly fetching and Erik felt an adrenaline jolt of victory every time he was the cause of it. “Shut up, Erik.”

Erik laughed and took another swig of beer, turning to catch Raven looking at him rather sharply. “What?” he asked, but she just shook her head.

It wasn’t until Charles excused himself to the restroom that the look came back, this time even more piercing. Erik hadn’t seen this look since he’d slept with Raven’s ex, who in his defense, had been gay the whole time and in serious need of an extra push to accept it, which Erik was more than happy to provide in the way of taking his cock-sucking virginity.

“Whatever you’re doing -- stop it,” she hissed.

“I’m not doing anything,” Erik replied, and he meant it.

“You’re leading Charles on!” She leaned menacingly towards him. “You haven’t touched him, have you?”

“What? Of course not.” Erik waved her off. “You can stop the overprotective sister act.”

“I’m serious about this, Erik.” Her face read that way indeed, her blue lips so thin they’d turned nearly white with tension. “If you’re not going to follow through don’t give him hope.”

Erik rolled his eyes. “I’m not into Charles, okay?” She was still eyeing him skeptically. “If you must know I have something going on with a guy I met...over text.”

Well, that sounded stupid when put into words, but what else could Erik say? Dick Pic Man was occupying his thoughts more and more, and wasn’t it the most pure of connections? It might have started with nudes but Erik liked everything -- the witty banter and the laughs and the easy conversation.

Raven was still watching him carefully, obviously looking for deception, and that just wasn’t fair. She’d brought Charles here and dumped him on Erik with no warning and now she was getting pissed about him even speaking to Charles?

“Raven, let me put your worries to rest. I don’t like Charles. I don’t want him, and I’m not into him. End of story.”

Her eyes searched his face for a moment longer but finally she sat back, seemingly satisfied. “Good then.”

“What’d I miss?” Charles asked, and both Raven and Erik jumped at the sound of his voice, overloud compared to the hushed conversation they’d just been sharing.

“Nothing,” Raven said, watching Charles carefully as he dropped into his chair and grabbed his beer, downing the rest in a few deep chugs. He licked his lips, catching Erik’s eye, and he watched as Charles smiled the same over-exuberant smile he’d had on his face the night he’d arrived.

“I need something stronger,” Charles declared.

By the time Raven left, Erik could admit he was pretty drunk, but nowhere near Charles’ level. Charles’ head was down on the kitchen table, but he turned to look up at Erik with bleary eyes. “Hey, Erik?”

“Hm?”

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Charles’ hair was sticking up in every direction and he reached a hand up to smooth it, but only succeeded in mussing it further.

“No.”

“Me neither. Love is a dirty lie.”

He went strangely quiet after that, and after finishing another drink he most definitely didn’t need, Erik decided it was time to cut him off. He helped Charles stand and watched as he swayed on his feet, listing against Erik. Erik put an arm around his shoulder, supporting him as he herded him down the hallway and into the spare bedroom.

Charles flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes, making a pleased sound as he buried his face in the pillow. Deciding he was alright, Erik turned to leave.

“Hey, Erik.” Charles’ call had Erik stilling in the doorway, and he turned to find Charles’ eyes trained on him, unexpectedly clear. “Thank you.”

Erik swallowed. “Sure.”

Charles flashed him a quick grin and then turned his back, wriggling under the covers. “Good night.”

Deciding not to puzzle over Charles’ behavior -- drunk people were extremely weird and unpredictable after all -- Erik settled in his own bed and picked up his phone, unlocking it.

After what he’d confessed to Raven, he’d felt the truth of his own words, and he’d been wanting to message Dick Pic Man and finally do what he’d repeatedly held himself back from doing. They had fun, they flirted, they were at least something like friends, and they had the same area code, so asking to meet up somewhere in public wouldn’t be too strange.

Erik began typing out the message but his phone vibrated with a new text before he got even two words in.

**DPM: what do you think of rebound relationships???**

Erik’s heart instantly leapt into action, pounding fast.

**I think they can be good or bad depending on why you’re going into them.**

**DPM: that was a suprisingly mature answer thank you**

**Your grammar and punctuation is a bit off tonight.**

**DPM: being drinking, sorry**

**No problem.**

_Just do it,_ Erik commanded himself, his heart still beating rapidly. _Just ask._

**Why are you asking about rebound relationships?**

**Think you’re looking for one?** Erik typed out but before he could send it, the response appeared.

**DPM: i fell for someone.. the friend I was staying with i mentioned before. i know its fast but i fell for him**

Erik’s fingers stilled, the pounding of his heart immediately drowned out by the rushing in his ears. Oh.

Trying to swallow down the sinking ache of disappointment, Erik deleted his response, his hands suddenly clumsy as he typed.

 **I see,** was all he managed.

**DPM: hes not interested in me though he made that v clear. and why would he be?**

_Why wouldn’t he be?_ Erik wanted to reply, but his hands wouldn’t move.

**DPM: im a mess**

_That makes two of us,_ Erik thought, but sent:

**I’m here to talk if you need me.**

**DPM: thank u :) i’m glad i accidentally sent my nudes to you**

**

Erik usually slept in on Saturdays, but he’d had a restless night and found himself out jogging before the sun had even fully risen. His feet pounding against the pavement echoed loudly in the morning stillness, the only other sounds his breath and the hum of the occasional passing car.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became and the faster he ran, pushing himself more and more. He’d been texting this guy for barely over two weeks and he already felt like he’d been dumped. It was an outrageous and stupid thing to feel, but Erik couldn’t shake it, no matter how much he sprinted.

But Dick Pic Man was rejected too, a small voice in the small glass-is-half-full portion of Erik’s brain reminded him. Erik could still ask to meet up, and even if it didn’t go well, at least he could get him out of his system.

He let out a breathy grunt of irritation as he pushed himself into another ill-advised sprint.

Even after Erik got home, showered, changed, and flopped down in front of the TV, Charles still hadn’t appeared. Considering how much he’d had to drink the night before, it made sense, but Erik did wonder a bit at the man’s general laziness. He was a professor, but he didn’t seem capable of functioning before noon.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he sent off a text to Dick Pic Man and was frustrated to receive no reply. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person either.

Charles finally appeared about a half an hour later, dressed for the day but his eyes still droopy.

“Coffee,” he mumbled, dragging himself to the kitchen and reappearing with a mug and slumping down at Erik’s side on the couch. Erik fiddled aimlessly with his phone as he watched Charles take a sip and make a displeased noise, frowning down at his coffee as if it had personally offended him.

“I need real coffee,” Charles sighed, his head falling back and his hair spreading across the top of the couch cushion.

“There’re a bunch of good places nearby,” Erik suggested.

Charles turned suddenly much more alert eyes on him, the blue clear in the late morning sunlight. “Let’s go.”

Erik hadn’t meant that they’d go together, and he was just about to say that when his quiet cellphone caught his eye.

There wasn’t a reason not to go, was there?

The temperature was mild and there wasn’t a cloud in sight, the bright endless blue of the sky making Erik immediately think of Charles’ eyes. Charles walked beside him at an easy pace, a small smile upon his lips as he glanced over at Erik. “This is nice. This is why I chose to stay in this area, you know. Quiet, a quick walk to the university, and a park nearby. What more could I need?”

“A bar that’s not full of loud and desperate college students?” Erik said.

Charles grinned up him. “Popular with the barely legals, Erik?”

Erik tried to glare Charles into submission and was not at all surprised to see that it failed. Whatever funk had come over Charles last night was obviously long gone. He looked downright at peace.

“Must be the broody allure of a mysterious older man,” Charles quipped, jogging a few steps ahead of Erik to open the cafe door.

Armed with one black coffee and one skinny vanilla latte (“Seriously, Charles?”), they made their way across the street and into the park. The benches along the lake were already filled with couples and families out enjoying the weather, and they hunted for a spot with little success.

Erik noticed a teenage couple necking on the next bench and decided he’d had quite enough of that. A wave of his hand collapsed one of the bench legs and the couple tumbled to the ground in a fit of shrieks and giggles.

“Erik!” Charles admonished, aiming for scandalized but obviously amused.

“What?” Erik shot back. “You know you were thinking the same thing.”

The boy stood, helping the girl to her feet, and they stared at the offending bench in confusion, wondering what they’d done to break it. Erik was about to crumple another bench leg when they finally turned to go, walking off hand-in-hand and giggling once again. As Charles and Erik approached the bench, Erik snapped the leg back into place and sat down, looking up at Charles who was watching with hesitation.

“Are you going to drop me on the ground too?”

Erik showed his teeth. “Would you like me to?”

Charles let out a sound Erik could only describe as a chuff and sat next to Erik. “Thanks for the seat then.” He leaned back and took a sip of his drink, content to simply sit in silence and watch the ducks in the lake.

As the lull stretched on, Erik found himself checking his phone again, disappointed to see there were still no new messages.

His hand clenched around the phone. Perhaps Dick Pic Man was out enjoying the nice weather with the object of his affections right at this moment.

“Do you come here often?” Charles’ question startled Erik into attention.

Ah, small talk. Erik steeled himself for an afternoon of it. “Only to jog. I don’t spend much time sitting around here.”

“It’s nice though. That’s a waste.” Charles adjusted a bit, and his arm came into contact with Erik’s, just their upper arms lightly resting against each other. “There was this one time Raven and I went to the park as kids, and she was so enthusiastic about feeding the ducks that she fell in the lake.”

Contrary to Erik’s worries, there was nothing tedious about the afternoon. Charles talked and laughed and it was easy, so easy, to just sit there and bask in it. The gloomy mood Charles had radiated when he’d first arrived on Erik’s doorstep had completely faded into this comfortable cloud of warmth that seemed to envelop Charles as a person, and it was hard not to relax into it.

Erik didn’t glance at his phone again.

**

That evening, once Erik had settled down to bed, his phone finally buzzed.

**DPM: Sorry for the late reply. I’ve been out all day. And let me tell you, it was a good day**

Erik sucked in a long breath before responding.

**Oh yeah? Tell me about it.**

**DPM: This might sound weird but… have you ever sat next to someone and thought it would be fine to stay there forever? Like if the world could just freeze in that exact moment it would be perfect and you’d actually never wish for anything more?**

Erik swallowed. **I don’t think so. But I’d like that. It sounds...** Erik searched for the word, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say, and as usual he was left with only “ **good.** ”

**DPM: I’m not going to give up. He rejected me once, but I can’t help but think there might be another chance**

**DPM: Maybe I should send him some nudes?**

Erik willed himself to find it amusing, but the corners of his lips refused to lift. **I’m always here to quality check.**

**DPM: You’re perfect**

_Apparently not_ , Erik thought. **I know** , he typed.

**DPM: Maybe we should meet up?**

Erik blinked down at the phone, his brain broadcasting static on all channels.

Of all times… now?

**DPM: Was that too forward of me? I’m sorry. I just thought maybe we’d be good friends face to face too**

**DPM: But there’s something to be said for this texting thing. I can be 100% honest with you. It’s great**

Erik dropped the phone in his lap and ran his hands over his face and into his hair to tug. This had long fallen into the realm of the absurd. After a bit of a bitter chuckle, he finally responded.

**No, not too forward. We could meet up if you’d like. I think it could be fun. I’d like a face to match those lips.**

**DPM: Oh would you?**

Another picture popped up, obviously a companion to the lips he’d already received, but this time instead of tongue, straight white teeth were biting the lower lip deliciously.

**DPM: You can look but no touching ; )**

**I can’t believe you just sent me a winky face.**

**DPM: I can’t believe you just said the word “winky”**

**DPM: ; )**

**DPM: ^_~**

**Go away.**

**DPM: Cruel. Goodnight, darling**

**Goodnight.**

**

Erik didn’t know how to feel when he woke up in the morning. Dick Pic Man had suggested they meet up as friends, and Erik wasn’t sure how well he’d do with a friend he wanted to fuck. Didn’t that always spell disaster? Especially since said friend was very much enamored with someone else?

But Erik liked Dick Pic Man, and it was too late to take that back and shut those feelings down. Meeting up could be the exact closure he needed. He rolled around in confusion and annoyance growling at his complete uselessness before finally throwing the covers back.

Pancakes, he decided. “Pancakes make everything better,” his mother had always said, and he was still pretty sure his mother knew best, even if she was nosy and overbearing to the extreme.

After a quick shower, he was in the kitchen, expertly flipping pancakes high into the air and snorting in amusement every time he botched the landing. It was messy but unexpectedly therapeutic and felt like a strange metaphor for his life. He could safely turn every pancake if he didn’t throw them high, but the thrill of watching them fly and then managing a catch more than made up for the risk.

Dear lord he was comparing his life to pancakes.

“Mmm… Smells divine.” The pancake in mid-flip landed badly, half out of the pan as Erik turned to find Charles behind him, scratching the back of his neck, his striped PJ top lifting up enough to reveal a strip of skin and a dark happy trail that lead down into his low slung pants.

The fabric dropped back down and Erik tore his eyes away, turning determinedly to his now extremely messy stove. “I’m making pancakes,” he stated dumbly.

Charles’ voice was dripping with amusement. “I can see that. And just yesterday you were annoyed about the kids hitting on you in bars. Who’s acting like a kid now?”

“Quiet, Xavier,” he growled.

Charles let out a light laugh, the sound at once annoyingly lovely and completely unfair. “I’m going to shower quickly. Be right back.”

Erik returned to flipping the cakes more sedately, and the last two turned out flawless, though the excitement in making them had been much lacking.

He was digging around the cabinet for the syrup when he heard Charles call for him. He glanced up to find Charles standing at the entrance to the kitchen in nothing but a towel wrapped rather carelessly around his hips. Erik dropped the syrup and they both jumped as it thumped loudly on the floor.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” That fetching blush was back, staining Charles’ pale cheeks. “The shower’s stuck, I think.”

Ripping his eyes from Charles and his bare chest, Erik picked up the syrup and set it on the counter. “Right. It does that. Let me fix it.”

Charles trailed Erik to the bathroom, and Erik closed his eyes for a moment, searching out the problem and finding that the shower handle had once again become wedged so tightly it would be difficult to move. A gentle wave of his power was all it took, and the water came on instantly.

“Brilliant,” Charles said enthusiastically as he always did whenever Erik used his mutation, his eyes wide and sparkling at each show of Erik’s power.

Erik shrugged, keeping his eyes carefully averted from Charles' near nudity, though he'd already noted that Charles had no chest hair. “It’s just a shower.”

“Still brilliant,” Charles insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and adopting a wide stance, obviously ready to argue the greatness of Erik’s mutation.

That was when the towel dropped.

Erik wasn’t sure who yelped, but the sound echoed strangely in the small bathroom. Charles' reaction was instantaneous, but instead of covering himself or grabbing for the towel, he whirled around, turning his back on Erik. Erik was trying not to look but most definitely looking when his eyes caught on Charles’ ass.

His ass. Which was a fantastic ass. An absolutely A+ ass. An ass to write home about.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention. What caught his attention was the achingly familiar sight of the small heart-shaped birthmark on the right cheek. The exact birthmark he’d been staring at on his phone obsessively for over two weeks now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are all amazing~ Thanks for your support!

The words tumbled numbly from Erik’s mouth. “You have a birthmark.”

“Yes,” Charles said, his voice as stilted and unthinking as Erik’s. “I do.” He bent to pick up the towel and Erik told himself to look away as the muscles moved in Charles' legs, but it was as if someone had pressed a pause button, freezing his entire body.

Charles hastily wrapped the towel around himself and faced Erik again, his face brilliantly red, the blush extending all the way down his neck.

For one long moment, they stood staring at each other, the steady fall of the water the only sound in the room.

Finally, Charles’ eyes darted away and settled somewhere over Erik’s right shoulder. “Thank you for your help, Erik.”

Erik nodded.

“I’m going to shower now,” Charles said.

Erik shook himself into action, backing out of the bathroom. “Right. Uh, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Erik didn’t remember what happened directly after that, his entire mind in a haze. He must have finished plating the pancakes and setting the table, but his thoughts were still locked on a perfect ass and an impossible birthmark.

Dick Pic Man had a birthmark. A very specific one, and Erik didn’t need to whip out his phone to confirm that it was the exact same birthmark he’d seen on Charles. He’d stared at the picture so many times he’d memorized every detail.

Erik was still sitting at the table, staring at nothing when Charles, newly showered, his damp hair curling around his ears and color still high on his cheeks, dropped into the opposite chair.

“Thanks for making pancakes,” he said, stabbing a few with his fork and dragging them to his plate, every movement completely casual though he didn't look Erik in the eye. Erik tried to focus on his own breakfast, but everything Charles did was now distracting in the extreme, and each micromovement of his face had Erik searching for more clues.

Then Charles lifted a syrupy piece of pancake to his mouth, hummed approvingly as he chewed it, and swiped his tongue across his red, red lips as if chasing the taste, and Erik fumbled his fork, the clattering of the silverware making Charles startle in his seat.

Charles. Dick Pic Man was _Charles._ How the hell had Erik missed this?

No, wait, how the hell could Erik have known this? Wasn’t there some sort of limit to coincidences?

Charles was frowning so hard at Erik a line had appeared on his forehead. “Are you alright? Your mind’s whirling a mile a minute.”

“I’m fine. Fine.” Erik picked back up his fork and attempted to look cool, calm, and collected, but now Charles was watching him suspiciously and Erik felt like a specimen pinned.

Erik pushed his pancake around his plate, trying to decide what move to make next. His heart was beating so loudly he was surprised Charles couldn’t hear it. Should he just say it? Just tell Charles everything?

But what could he say? _Actually, Charles, I think I may have been jacking off to your photos for the past few weeks. Oh and by the way, I also sent you a pic of my cock. What did you think?_

“Erik, are you sure you’re alright?” Charles asked again, his face sweetly concerned, and Erik stood suddenly, his chair dragging loudly across the floor.

“I just remembered that I need to do something.” And without waiting for Charles to answer, he fled.

The moment the door to his room shut behind him, he let out a long, slow breath, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. He needed to calm down, and his immediate urge was to pick up his phone and text Dick Pick Man, who had become his confidant of sorts.

But that would be Charles.

His brain was still trying to wrap itself around this new truth. Charles was the person he'd been confiding in for weeks over text. Charles was the person who'd been making him laugh and making him horny and making his heart ache.

Charles was also the person he’d been arguing with over dinner and finding endless pleasure in teasing. Charles was the one who’d been challenging him and keeping him company and, if he was being perfectly honest, also making him horny.

He’d been thinking only of Dick Pic Man in a romantic way, or so he thought, but now that he realized they were one and the same…

It was too good to be true.

And then it hit him, and he rested his forehead against the door.

If Charles was Dick Pick Man, then the person Dick Pick Man was interested in, the one he was staying with, the friend he was enamored with… was Erik.

Erik let out a strange sound, half-laugh and half-derisive-snort as he realized that he’d been dumped for himself.

He’d been jealous of _himself_.

Shaking his head at the mess his life had become, he picked up his phone from the bedside table and looked down at it as if it held the answers. He nearly dropped it when it vibrated with a text.

**DPM: I think something upset my friend but I am not sure what to do.**

_It’s me._ Erik thought wildly. _It really is me._

The playful and flirtatious Dick Pick Man and the intelligent and easily flustered Charles were actually one in the same.

**DPM: I don’t think I did anything wrong but he ran to his room.**

Erik hesitated, wondering if he should go straight out to Charles and clear up this whole misunderstanding, but a small piece of him couldn’t resist the opportunity.

**Why do you like him? What’s so great about this guy?**

Dick Pic Man’s responses were often fast, but after a long moment, nothing had arrived and Erik wondered if perhaps he’d scared him off by asking. He was about to slip the phone into his pocket to venture out to the living room to meet the problem head on when it vibrated again.

**DPM: He’s tall and hot, and you should see his perfect body. Plus, he’s got this fantastic mutation that I’ve never seen before**

Erik’s lips tugged downward. Shallow. All shallow.

But then the phone vibrated again.

**DPM: But that’s just the bonus. He’s rather prickly, but he’s smart and unexpectedly funny, and I think he really secretly likes it when he makes me smile. He’s also unwaveringly loyal. He’s stuck by my sister through thick and thin when I was too far away and too busy to be there for her. And his mind is brilliant. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before, and I’ve barely brushed the surface**

**DPM: I’ve never met anyone else like him**

Erik’s hand clenched around his phone almost as tightly as his heart clenched in his chest. This was something he wasn’t supposed to see. Something Charles was confiding in someone he trusted. He was a total dick for even asking.

He was across his room, out the door, and down the hall before his mind caught up with his body, finding Charles in the living room sitting on the arm of the couch staring down at his phone intently, so utterly zoned out that he didn't even notice Erik was there.

Erik typed as fast as he could and pressed send before he could start to overthink it.

**Look up, Charles.**

Erik felt the sharp tang of surprise in the air and watched as Charles’ eyes widened at the message that appeared on his screen. He looked up slowly, his eyes dragging from Erik’s socked feet up his body, focusing for a moment on the cellphone clutched in Erik’s hand before finally meeting Erik’s intense gaze.

Charles’ lips parted then in a swift little exhale. “Nine?”

“What?”

Charles stood, the phone dropping from his limp hand and hitting the carpet with a dull thud. “Nine,” he repeated more to himself than Erik. “You’re nine.”

Not knowing what that meant, Erik dumbly responded, “Hello.”

“It was you this whole time. I’ve been texting with you.” He looked back down at the phone still clenched in Erik’s hand, and he let out a small sound of distress. “I just sent you a detailed text about how much I like you.”

“Yes.”

Charles covered his face with his hands. “Erik, I’m so sorry. I know you have someone you’re interested in. I can stay in a hotel for a few days.”

“Wait, what?”

Charles ran his hands through his hair, leaving strands sticking out in all directions. “I know my feelings are one-sided, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Erik was still having trouble following, but Charles kept going, words coming faster until he was nearly babbling. “That night we were drinking, I heard what you said to Raven about how you definitely weren’t into me, and I’m sorry, I know I should have just given up, but sometimes when I’m with you, it feels like maybe we’re the only two people in the world, and it’s a pretty wonderful feeling-- shit, what am I even saying, you told Raven you’ve got a thing going on with a guy you’re texting and I don’t want to get in the way of that--”

Charles cut off abruptly.

Erik raised an eyebrow at him.

“A guy you’re texting,” Charles repeated slowly, looking down to the phone he’d dropped onto the carpet. His eyes travelled back up, widening in comprehension. “Me…?”

“You,” Erik confirmed, taking a step closer and watching as Charles tilted his chin up slightly to keep eye contact.

"I might have been under the impression that you rejected me for another guy," Erik explained, not exactly eager to reveal that he’d been so pathetically depressed by the whole misunderstanding.

"I might have been under that impression too," Charles admitted. The shocked confusion was fading from his face, turning into the familiar flustered expression Erik loved. "I sent you nudes."

"Yes."

"Oh my god," Charles breathed.

Erik watched for an uncomfortable moment, fearing that Charles might flee and that it might all end here. That their stupid misunderstanding might cost them something that could have been good.

But Charles just shook his head in disbelief for a moment before he looked back up to meet Erik’s gaze, an unexpected, shy smile spreading across his face. "Did you like them?"

Erik let out a laugh, the tension seeping from his body. "You have no idea."

Charles bit his lip and Erik reached a hand out, slightly hesitant until he saw Charles nod his assent, and then he cupped Charles' cheek, running his thumb across Charles' plump lower lip, freeing it from his teeth.

"I've been wondering what your lips feel like. I've been staring at them for weeks." The admission made Erik’s face heat, but Charles looked pleased, biting lightly at Erik's thumb.

"Now's your chance to find out."

Erik wasn't sure if he pulled Charles to him or if Charles threw himself into Erik's arms, but Charles’ lips were as soft and sweet as they looked. Nothing else about him was sweet though, his kiss and the press of his body hard and demanding, letting loose weeks of pent-up frustration. Erik took the chance to do everything he'd been dreaming of -- to slide his hands into Charles' fluffy hair, to nibble on those tempting lips, to grab Charles' ass in both hands and squeeze. _God, that ass._

The kiss deepened, turning slow and wet and filthy, and suddenly the room was hot enough to make Erik sweat, his blood and adrenaline pumping like he’d just sprinted through his entire morning jog. He thought he might drown in the kiss, and really, he couldn’t think of a better way to go than with his tongue entwined with Charles’. Just when Erik became truly desperate for air, Charles pulled back slowly, obviously reluctant to go, dropping his head and panting hotly against Erik's neck for a moment.

Erik gasped as Charles licked a searing stripe up his neck, pausing at Erik’s ear to whisper, "There's something I need to confirm," before gently biting Erik’s earlobe and sending a shudder through him.

Erik turned his head, desperate to catch Charles' lips in another kiss, but Charles had already dropped to his knees, and as his hands brushed deliberately against Erik's erection as he began to unbutton Erik's pants, Erik's mind went blissfully blank.

"You're not a liar," Charles murmured the moment he had Erik’s cock in hand, pumping expertly and making Erik's knees buckle dangerously.

Erik was about to respond with a biting comment but the sight of Charles on his knees, his clever hand on Erik’s shaft and hot breath teasing the head, robbed him of any higher brain function. Charles didn’t waste any time, his excitement and arousal clouding the air between them as he began to tongue the tip, stealing Erik's breath and looking up at him with fever bright blue eyes. He smirked as he continued to tease, nibbling and licking at the shaft before returning to the head and swirling his tongue around it expertly.

“Fuck-- _Charles_ \--” Erik managed, nearly at the edge of his sanity, and as if intent to drive him crazy, Charles swallowed Erik nearly to the root, his red lips stretching perfectly around Erik’s considerable girth.

Erik groaned as he watched Charles nearly choke himself on his cock, tears forming in his eyes from the effort as he swallowed convulsively, the movement of his throat drawing another desperate moan from Erik. Too overcome by the tight, wet heat and talented tongue to do anything else, Erik grabbed two fistfuls of Charles’ hair and held on for the ride.

**

Erik blinked up at the ceiling, feeling far too hot and slightly sticky but also far too content and heavy with pleasure to move. Charles was half-draped over him on the too narrow couch, his head resting on Erik's chest right over his heart.

Even now Erik's body was struggling between sated and ready to go again, the image of Charles on his knees, his moaning muffled around Erik's cock as he jacked himself to completion before Erik even had time to get a hand on him fresh in Erik’s mind.

"Sorry," Charles had apologized, voice hoarse from taking Erik so deeply. "I'll let you touch me next time. I got a bit too excited."

“Hey,” Charles’ still slightly raspy voice broke Erik from his blow-by-blow mental recap. "How many times are you going to replay that in your mind?"

"Until it stops being the hottest thing I've ever experienced," Erik replied honestly, tightening his arm around Charles.

Charles chuckled into Erik's shirt. "I'll just have to outdo myself."

A nearby phone buzzed and Erik, not wanting to move from the spot they’d been lounging in for an unknown amount of time, blindly reached for it, his fingers barely managing to drag it closer so that he could pick it up.

"It's yours." His stomach dropped and he paled as he spotted the caller’s name. "It's Raven."

"I'll call her back later," Charles said. When Erik didn’t respond, staying perfectly still, Charles looked up at Erik’s pale face, resting his chin on Erik's chest. It was a bit uncomfortable digging into Erik’s sternum, but also adorable, so Erik said nothing. "Something's wrong."

"No," Erik denied, then remembered Charles was a telepath. "Yes,” he amended. “Raven's going to kill me."

Charles smiled. "Did she tell you not to fuck me?"

"Yes," Erik said. "Though technically, I didn't fuck you." He paused. "Yet."

"She'll get over it. It's her fault for bringing me here in the first place.” Charles ran a hand up Erik’s chest, leaving a trail of heat behind. “She should have known you were my type."

"I think she was too desperate to care. She told me it's hard for telepaths to be alone after a breakup." Erik tried to keep the hesitation out of his tone, to stay casual and composed before he went on. "I guess it's good there was someone here to distract you."

Charles narrowed his eyes. "Timing-wise, this might look like a rebound, but let me tell you, I'm serious about you, Erik. You’re not just a distraction."

Relieved but unable to say it, Erik pulled Charles closer so he could press a chaste kiss to his lips, hoping that spoke for itself.

"You could at least say you like me," Charles mumbled, poking Erik in the chest. "I sucked your dick and everything."

Charles' attempt at pouting was almost difficult to look at, and Erik found himself laughing, unable to hold it in.

"I thought telepaths would be able to figure these things out on their own."

Charles stiffened. "Listen, Erik, I'd prefer if you didn't count on me to constantly know your feelings--"

"That's not what I meant,” Erik cut in, silently cursing himself as he recalled what Charles had said about his ex using the telepathy as an easy crutch. “Shit, let me try that again. To be honest, I was silently pining over you. When Dick Pic Man said he liked someone else, I was seriously upset."

Charles’ brow furrowed. "Wait, who? Who's Dick Pick Man?"

"That's what I named you in my phone."

Charles' brows inched toward his hairline. "Creative."

"Shut up," Erik groused, his hand sliding down Charles' side to rest on the curve of his lower back. "What did you name me?"

"Nine," Charles said. "After your best asset."

Erik couldn't resist kissing the smirk off of Charles' face.

**

Charles moved out that Wednesday, though an impulsive part of Erik wanted to ask Charles to stay. Raven watched them with suspicion when she came to pick up Charles, showing up even though Charles had insisted that he didn’t need an escort for a ten minute walk down the street.

“Yes, well, I’m here anyway,” she said dismissively. “So get your luggage and let’s go.”

Charles frowned at her, but obviously decided to let this battle go. He’d barely disappeared around the corner to retrieve his bag from the spare bedroom before Raven turned to Erik and punched him in the arm, hard.

“You’re an asshole.”

Erik rubbed his arm, positive it would bruise. “I believe this is an established fact.”

“Don’t play coy.”

“Look, I fucked your brother but we’re dating now, so maybe give me some slack here.”

“What? What happened to your ‘text buddy’ that you had a thing with?” she asked, complete with air quotes.

“The text buddy was Charles,” Erik said with shrug. “I didn’t know it was him until the other day.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“He’s not kidding you.” Charles was back, suitcase in tow. “Obviously fate has brought us together, so if you could lay off your sisterly lectures, that would be great.”

“But, Charles,” Raven started, straightening her stance, “I was going to help you feel better and introduce you to some really nice guys.”

“Erik’s a nice guy,” Charles insisted.

Raven opened her mouth, her brows drawn together in consternation, but the words didn’t come.

Instead, she turned to look at Erik, really look at him, and Erik could see it, the moment Raven softened as she did only when it came to the people she held dear. Her stiff posture deflated, and she smiled wryly. “I know he is.”

They both stared at her in mute surprise.

“What? I’m not going to interfere if you guys are happy.” Charles and Erik exchanged a look of relief, but it was short lived, and they tensed simultaneously when Raven stuck out an accusing finger at them. “If you break up though, I’m not picking between you two. That’s completely unfair to me, so make sure this thing lasts, okay? Or I’ll just get rid of you _both_.”

“Got it,” Charles said, sounding sure enough for the both of them. “We’ll do our best to stay together for you.” Erik wanted to kiss him.

Raven nodded. “Damn straight. I’ll be waiting outside then.” She flashed them a smile that was mostly teeth. “Erik and I can have a much longer talk later.” With those fateful words, she slipped out the door.

Charles turned a grin on Erik the moment the door clicked shut. “Well, that was a bit unexpected. She never fails to surprise me.”

“She always was a great wing woman,” Erik joked, grabbing Charles by the hips and pulling him close, that earlier urge to kiss him not fading in the slightest. “Though this is the first time she’s literally brought one to my doorstep.”

Charles pressed his laugh against Erik’s mouth and it was part giggle, part kiss, and sweet enough to bring color to Erik’s cheeks and send his heart racing. He wanted to push Charles up against the door and have his way with him, but Raven was right on the other side, which was rather a mood killer.

“Definitely a mood killer,” Charles agreed, easily answering Erik’s thought as he untangled himself from Erik’s long limbs.

As Erik watched Charles open the door, he tried to swallow past the absurd sinking loneliness he felt in his gut. “See you later.”

Charles turned back to him and gave him a sleazy wink. “I’ll text you.”

**

That Friday night, after a few days of having the apartment to himself, Erik was lying alone in bed and feeling rather dejected. It was annoying that Charles had so thoroughly worked his way into Erik’s life in such a short time, but Erik couldn’t bring himself to be mad.

His phone buzzed with a text and he immediately snatched it up, smiling to himself when he saw that it was a photo from Charles. He unlocked it and was greeted with the exact ass picture that had started it all, the one he knew by heart, including the adorable little birthmark. Below it, the message read, **Missing this yet?**

Erik snorted and wrote back, **Yes. Now get your ass over here.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It started with the ass, so I figured it should end with the ass ;') Also, I think I might have given myself cavities when I wrote this but I don't care, I love FLUFF! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your amazing comments and support for my silly little dick pic fic : D I've had an amazing time writing it! Thank youuuu <3
> 
> The next thing I'm writing is going to be another rom-com (shocking!) but I think it'll be longer, so I'd like to get a big chunk written before I start posting since I'm such a slow writer. It'll take awhile, but I promise I'll be back!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art inspired by You show me yours](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4007518) by [Mikanskey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikanskey/pseuds/Mikanskey)




End file.
